ELECTION RIGGING: INEC CHAIRMAN NOT TO BLAME, SAYS DEJI ADELEKE
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By: Muftau Fatimo
The President of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, and businessman, Deji Adeleke, has called for collective efforts among stakeholders to strengthen credibility and transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Adeleke, who is the elder brother of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, made the call during the university’s 12th undergraduate and eighth postgraduate convocation ceremonies held in Ede on Sunday.
He stated that no chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), regardless of experience or competence, could single-handedly eliminate election rigging.
However, he alleged that some election officials, including corps members deployed as ad hoc staff and police officers assigned to provide security, sometimes collude to manipulate results at polling units.
People die, there is violence during elections. They have killed young people like you graduating today who might become adult staff of INEC, changing figures.
“You cannot blame that on the INEC chairman when youth corps members are collecting N50,000 and changing figures at the polling unit.
“Even if the INEC chairman is a spirit, is he going to be at all the polling units in Nigeria?
Very soon we are going to have an election in Osun State. Osun State has 3,763 polling units. Is it humanly possible for the INEC chairman to be at all those polling units at the same time?
“But they have entrusted it to young people like you, and yet they will collect money and change the figures. We also have policemen with children who need a good country to have a future, aiding and abetting the rigging process, and people are killed just because of elections,” Adeleke said.
“People die, there is violence during elections. They have killed young people like you graduating today who might become adult staff of INEC, changing figures.
“You cannot blame that on the INEC chairman when youth corps members are collecting N50,000 and changing figures at the polling unit.
“Even if the INEC chairman is a spirit, is he going to be at all the polling units in Nigeria?
“Very soon we are going to have an election in Osun State. Osun State has 3,763 polling units. Is it humanly possible for the INEC chairman to be at all those polling units at the same time?
“But they have entrusted it to young people like you, and yet they will collect money and change the figures. We also have policemen with children who need a good country to have a future, aiding and abetting the rigging process, and people are killed just because of elections,” Adeleke said.
He said the implications of a manipulated electoral process were grave for the country, noting that the international community would continue to “look at us as primitive and backward,” despite Nigerians being highly talented.
“So, it’s very painful when you see these things happen because of ignorance of the implications of what people do on election day or the ignorance of judges perverting justice. The implication is that Nigeria will continue to regret it if it doesn’t change immediately. But it’s not too late for us to change. It’s never too late to start all over.”
In his convocation address, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Solomon Adebola, said the institution had recorded steady growth since its establishment in 2011.
He said the university admitted 1,554 students into various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes during the 2025/2026 academic session.
Adebola also disclosed that the university had secured approval from the National Universities Commission to run Medicine (MBBS) and Pharmacy (Pharm.D) programmes and would commence admission into both programmes in the 2026/2027 academic session.
The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that a total of 1,375 students would be graduating from the College of Postgraduate Studies and six undergraduate faculties.
He announced that the best graduating students at the undergraduate level were Ejiofor Onyinyechukwu Sonia from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Kinosi Victor Oluwagbemiga from the Department of Economics, both of whom achieved a CGPA of 5.00.
For postgraduate studies, Olunlade Joshua Oluwafisayo, a Master’s graduate in Mechanical Engineering, emerged as the overall best Master’s student with a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 80.02, while Ukenyi Chibunna Godspower, a Ph.D graduate in Religious Studies (New Testament), was named the best overall Ph.D graduate with a CWA of 77.32.
He urged the graduating students to see the completion of their studies as the beginning of another phase of life and to approach the future without fear.
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